Short stay visa for scientists, researchers, professors holding a "Convention d’Accueil"

CONVENTION D’ACCUEIL for France less than 90 days

• B1-B2 visa holders: Please, apply in the country of your residence. No visas will be delivered to foreigners holding U.S B1-B2 visas.

Processing time

Processing time may take between 1 day and 3 months, depending on your citizenship.

At least 1 month is the average processing time if you are a citizen from :

Requirements

We only accept residents from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Southern California and Southern Nevada. Please note you will have to show us a driver license from one of these states (for students : driver license or student ID from school located in one of these states).

 Original passport (+ ONE COPY of the identity pages)

• Must be valid for at least six months after your return to the US
• Has least two blank pages left to affix the visa (amendment pages are not suitable for visas).
• Has been delivered less than 10 years ago (first issuance)
• Be in good condition.
  
  

 One application form filled out completely and signed by the applicant.

 One PASSPORT PHOTO. Do not glu or staple. More details on photograph requirements.

 Original "CONVENTION D’ACCUEIL" (equivalent of a work contract) provided and stamped by your host and stamped by the Prefecture. (+ 2 COPIES)

 If you are not a U.S citizen: residency card or valid visa to the United States, I-20, IAP66, advanced parole or any other pertinent documents showing that you may reenter the U.S. (+ ONE COPY)

• B1-B2 visa holders: Please, apply in the country of your residence. No visas will be delivered to foreigners holding U.S B1-B2 visas.
  

 If you want your passport to be sent back to you, please bring:

• A self-addressed FedEx Express "US Airbill" and FedEx enveloppe. Please fill out your own address twice (you are the sender AND the recipient).
  We will NOT accept other methods of delivery: (NO USPS, NO UPS, NO FedEx "Ground" service)
  
  

Important information

 The consular administration has full authority to evaluate and request more documents than those submitted by the applicant.

 Please be aware that submitting the aforementioned documents does not guarantee the approval of the visa.

 Please note that holders of Schengen visas are still subject to immigration control upon first entry into a Schengen country. The visa itself does not grant the right to enter the Schengen space.

Make an appointment?

 All applicants must apply in person and must make an appointment on our website. Personal appearance is mandatory.

We regret that at this time we do not accept appointments over the phone or via email.

• If you are not able to attend, please free a slot by canceling or rescheduling your appointment by logging back in the appointment system and click on “changing your appointment”. You will need your “LAX” confirmation number and passport number.
  
  

 One appointment = one person (for instance, family of four must take four appointments)
 One appointment per person only: due to the high number of applicants, the French Consulate reserves the right to cancel appointments made by the same person on the same day (or even on two different dates).

WARNING: To use the system, the following configuration is required :

• Firefox 1.0 and higher
• Mozilla 1.7.8 and higher
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 and higher
• Adobe Acrobat reader and higher
• Allow pop-ups
• The appointment system is NOT compatible with Mac computers